Read Jeremiah 17:19 - Jeremiah 20
 
Jeremiah 20:9 But if I say I’ll never mention the LORD or speak in his name, his word burns in my heart like a fire. It’s like a fire in my bones! I am worn out trying to hold it in! I can’t do it!
 
AS we have read of Jeremiah’s anguish for his people, uncertainty of God’s promises and anger over the plots against his life, we can understand why Jeremiah would say, “I’ll never mention the LORD or speak in his name.” We have the same mindset, don’t we? Very quickly we have learned to be quiet about Jesus because someone accuses us for one reason or another. It’s especially true we become quiet around those who remain unmoved as we speak of sin and salvation. “What’s the point?” we ask ourselves. “They’ll ignore me or criticize me. I might even lose their friendship.”
   This kind of fear has done great harm to the kingdom purpose and to the church in our culture. Pagans in governments, businesses, communities and athletics have told Christians to be quiet. “No Jesus Allowed Here!” And much too quickly we say, “I’m sorry. I’ll be quiet.” After all, we’re commanded to love one another. (1 John 3:11)  Let’s just be loving.
   Yes, let us, indeed, be loving. Love the LORD enough to tell of his great mercy given in history’s full display on a tortuous cross. Love the lost enough to tell them they are lost. The greatest love is tell people the gospel. Peter and John knew this. When they were warned by the same authorities who crucified Jesus to never again speak or teach in the name of Jesus (Acts 4:19b), they responded: “We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:20) Why? They knew will all certainty of their soul that Jesus was risen, and Jesus had commanded. The world needs to know. But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? (Romans 10:14)
   In God’s grace, he used Jeremiah to love Judah with his warnings. Their response was to reject God and Jeremiah, to even plot to kill the prophet. The same thing happened with Jesus and the apostles. And we thank God he still warns the world. By his grace, God has lit a fire of salvation, fueled with the body and blood of Jesus Christ, fanned by the Spirit, into millions of people’s transformed lives. The Holy Spirit is a fire in you now that empowers you to speak through the objections and accusations with an unquenchable desire to tell people of God’s judgment to come.
   In Israel’s and Judah’s exiles, the LORD God has shown us what he will do with the unbeliever. He will do the same with the unbeliever on the Day of the LORD. His fire will not be quenched until his judgment is complete. The fire within us must not be cooled until the time is done for speaking.      
 
 

Read Jeremiah 15:10-17:18
 
Jeremiah 17:5-8 This is what the LORD says: “Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from the LORD. 6 They are like stunted shrubs in the desert, with no hope for the future. They will live in the barren wilderness, in an uninhabited salty land. 7 But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence. 8 They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.”
 
IF you were to travel through some of the drier climates in the United States, you’d often see lines of Russian Olive trees planted and growing along streams and fields. The tree is described to be extremely tolerant of cold, heat, wet or dry. It is also the best windbreak tree for high wind areas. Russian Olive trees can be made into a hedge by planting them 10 feet apart in the row. The tree has low water requirements and displays a high tolerance for salt and alkali. Its stems, buds, and leaves have a dense covering of silvery to rusty scales and offer a sweet aroma. In Africa and the Mideast, the broom tree, also known as the juniper, is a small, shady tree that also provides shelter from sun and storm.
   Are you as these trees, a shelter for those who need protection? You will be as you trust in the LORD. In faith, you will be rooted in the eternal power of your Creator God. You will withstand the winds of wickedness that blow constantly against the human soul. You will be rooted to stand firmly against the storms attacking your relationship with God. Others will see your strength and seek you for the shelter of God’s comfort and peace. Because you follow Jesus, you will offer a pleasing aroma of his spiritual fruit to those who are hungry for their lives to have purpose and meaning.
   The Bible has many images of the strong, well-watered tree to illustrate a godly life. When you consider the multiple ways wood, leaves and fruit from trees are used, you can well understand why the LORD uses the tree to illustrate his high, wide and long kingdom truth.
   In contrast, why would anyone want to be a stunted shrub in the desert, with no hope for the future? The Liar deceives the world to believe a certain person has the answers we desire. Our trust in people can quickly disappear when their words and deeds remind us they are simply human as we are. When we hope in people for eternal truths, we are constantly left wondering, “What’s next?”
   Judah was trusting in the worldly powers that would soon disappear. Their lives were stunted, undernourished without roots in their Almighty God.
   Trust in the LORD. Root yourself in his truth. Break the winds of sin, so you can disperse the scent of salvation.
 

Read Jeremiah 13-15:9
 
Jeremiah 14:19 LORD, have you completely rejected Judah? Do you really hate Jerusalem? Why have you wounded us past all hope of healing? We hoped for peace, but no peace came. We hoped for a time of healing, but found only terror.
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Jeremiah 15:1-2 Then the LORD said to me, “Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me pleading for these people, I wouldn’t help them. Away with them! Get them out of my sight! 2 And if they say to you, ‘But where can we go?’ tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says: “Those who are destined for death, to death; those who are destined for war, to war; those who are destined for famine, to famine; those who are destined for captivity, to captivity.’”
 
PERHAPS one reason many people stay away from Jesus and his church is the bottom line. This is the line that God has established between right and wrong, judgment and salvation. There has been and will be again a certain time when God justly punishes the unjust and rewards the just. Most people do not want to face that defined line. If they would see it, they know they must change. The sinful heart desires the blurry line of self-determination.
   Jeremiah’s prayer in 14:19 is a supplication to God to extend the bottom line into the future. He prays for God to relent and reverse his decision to destroy his nation. Moses and Samuel had prayed similar supplications when there was great sin among Israel. As Jeremiah, these especially chosen prophets and leaders prayed to protect Israel from God’s judgment. The Almighty God had determined this was the bottom line for Judah. And he rejected Jeremiah’s plea. “Those who are destined for death, to death.” and the other “destined” statements are God’s bottom line. 
   This is what we learn of God. He hears our prayers, and he responds to the purpose of his will. The LORD at times answers our intercessions and supplications with, “Yes. I will relent and receive my people back to me.” And sometimes he answers as he does here, “What is destined is certain.” We can be grateful the LORD has a plan and a time of salvation for all who believe. We must live as if that time will come because it will. There is a bottom line to God’s will.
   

Read Jeremiah 10-12
 
Jeremiah 11:9-10 Again the LORD spoke to me and said, “I have discovered a conspiracy against me among the people of Judah and Jerusalem. 10 They have returned to the sins of their forefathers. They have refused to listen to me and are worshiping other gods. Israel and Judah have both broken the covenant I made with their ancestors.”
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Jeremiah 11:18 Then the LORD told me about the plots my enemies were making against me.
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Jeremiah 12:1 LORD, you always give me justice when I bring a case before you. So let me bring you this complaint: Why are the wicked so prosperous? Why are evil people so happy?
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Jeremiah 12:13 “My people have planted wheat, but are harvesting thorns. They have worn themselves out, but it has done them no good. They will harvest a crop of shame because of the fierce anger of the Lord.”
 
IF a law enforcement officer came to you to say, “We have discovered a conspiracy against you. People in your hometown want to kill you. But don’t worry. We have stopped it.” How would you react? Perhaps you might ask the law officer, “How can you allow such crimes around us? Am I safe?” His reply might be, “We are dedicated to stopping the crime. The criminals will be sentenced to prison.”
   These verses from Jeremiah 11 and 12 allow us to listen to a crisis conversation between God and his prophet. The LORD calls his people’s disobedience a conspiracy, a plot, against his authority. I AM looked at Israel’s history. Although he created them to be a blessing, they completely chose the curse of idolatry. They conspired, the plotted, to disobey his commands, so they could rule themselves. This is the rebellion begun in the Garden, continuing through the human soul.
   Then the LORD revealed a conspiracy against Jeremiah’s life (Jeremiah 11:18-12:6). We can easily understand why Jeremiah would be frustrated, wondering why the wicked attack the righteous. Others in Scripture, including Job, the psalmists and other prophets had the same question. I think we do, too. When we look, for example, at the persecuted church to see the world’s conspiracy to mock and kill Christians, do we wonder, “Why are the wicked so prosperous? Why are evil people so happy?”  But then we must know God’s answer, “They will harvest a crop of shame because of the fierce anger of the LORD.”  
   God is holding each person to account. He told Jeremiah to disregard men’s opinions or threats because God’s justice will destroy them. Yes, it is true that many faithful righteous people suffer for God and die for his kingdom. But we always remember God’s ultimate reward for his faithful is eternal life. In contrast, his final reward for the world’s conspirators is eternal judgment.
   The LORD assures us through Scripture that his world is his world. He will do as he wills to bring his will from heaven to earth.
 

Read Jeremiah 7-9
 
Jeremiah 7:25-26 From the day your ancestors left Egypt until now, I have continued to send my servants, the prophets day in and day out. 26 But my people have not listened to me or even tried to hear. They have been stubborn and sinful, even worse than their ancestors.
 
IT is sad to note most people are in some way chained to unbelief. They have no idea who God is even though God has “continued to send my servants, the prophets day in and day out.” What would happen if they listened and heard?
   They would try to hear all they can of God. They would seek, listen and hear his truth in the Bible guiding them each day. Believers read other learned books that help us understand the Bible. A Christ follower loves to sit under a true sermon that points to sin, salvation and sanctification.
   If one believes in God, he and she will know God has created them in his image and deeply loves them. Believing in God, people will know about the sin penalty of eternal Hell. Then they will know of God’s redeeming favor to save them unto himself. When they need comfort they will believe such words from Jesus: Matthew 6:31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”
   In the days of Jeremiah God was grieved Judah did not know him. God is grieved today over his creation who do not believe in and listen to him. Graciously, though, the LORD of Heaven continues to come to the world. God’s salvation plan is still moving forward. He offers himself to know eternal life. Let’s listen and believe.   
 
Is There No Medicine?
 
Jeremiah 8:21-22 I hurt with the hurt of my people. I mourn and am overcome with grief. 22 Is there no medicine in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why is there no healing for the wounds of my people?
 
LIKELY you have grieved when someone you loved was broken by illness, temptation or addiction. You longed for them to be well. But their lives remained broken.
   Such was the heart of Jeremiah as he lamented the hardships Jerusalem’s people were experiencing and would experience for many years. The medicine in Gilead (other versions say balm in Gilead) was a healing salve made from certain trees in a region northeast of Jerusalem. It was a precious commodity to trade to foreign nations. The balm eased physical discomfort.
   But there is no medicine in Gilead or in any place to ease the pain of Jerusalem’s soul. Their disease has shut their hearts to their LORD. There was no healing in the false balm of wealth, idolatry and ignorance.
   As Jeremiah cried out for his people, he showed God’s heart. Let’s be clear. God’s will – his desire – is not to punish. His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven is to bless. But when we repeatedly decide against his law and authority, our Holy God will judge us. He made us to be his for a life of spiritual health and blessing. Instead the Jews chose a life of sickness and curses.
   Judah’s medicine would come some 100 years after this when they would return from exile. The returning generations would open, read and obey God’s Word. And we must thank God the medicine has come for us, too, in the advent of Jesus Christ. The Son’s ministry revealed the physical and healing balm of the blood of Jesus Christ “poured out as a sacrifice for you.” (Luke 22:20)
   If we believe in God, we will enjoy this unending balm to our joy and blessing. Hallelujah!
 
 
 

Read Jeremiah 5:14-6          
 
Jeremiah 6:1 & 22 “Run for your lives, you people of Benjamin! Get out of Jerusalem! Sound the alarm in Tekoa! Send up a signal at Beth-hakkerem! A powerful army is coming from the north, coming with disaster and destruction. & 22 This is what the LORD says: “Look! A great army coming from the north! A great nation is rising against you from far-off lands.”
 
LET’S consider Babylon. We have read many references to this country in Isaiah. And this ancient powerful nation will be very central to much of the remaining Old Testament scriptures.
   Babylon actually began in Genesis 10 in the list of nations after the Flood. Genesis 10:8 Cush (Ham’s son, Noah’s grandson) was also the ancestor of Nimrod, who was the first heroic warrior on earth…10 He built his kingdom in the land of Babylonia, with the cities of Babylon, Erech, Akkad, and Calneh. It’s also essential to remember that Noah had cursed his son Ham. Ham’s descendants would oppose his brother Shem’s descendants (Israel). Genesis 11 then tells us people at Babel – another word for Babylon – developed technology to make bricks and then build towers. As you might recall, they wanted to build a tower to God, and the LORD confused their language to prevent this. That is why the city was called Babel, because that is where the LORD confused the people with different languages. In this way he scattered them all over the world. Babylon, then, was rooted in the most ancient civilization in the world. Through the centuries, Babylon became part of the Assyrian empire. But then came leaders, Semiramis and Nebuchadnezzar. They enlarged the city and began to conquer their neighbors. When Nebuchadnezzar won a great battle against Egypt and defeated Assyria, Babylon’s power and authority were absolute. They then became a threat to Judah.
   Babylon was 2700 KM or 1680 miles directly east of Jerusalem. Remember this when the Jews are taken there. They will be very far from home. It is also difficult to imagine the time, effort and expense needed to move massive armies such a distance. But this was very common in ancient empires. As Jeremiah spoke God’s Word to warn of a nation from the north, this is how Babylon attacked Judah. Going directly east would move Babylon through the vast Arabian desert. Going north, then south into Judah would keep the army on good land with water.
   One reason we can believe the Bible is true is to know God’s specific prophecies become specific realities. When Jeremiah twice in chapter 6 said, a great army is coming from the north, he is relaying God’s specific plan of Judah’s conquest. The area of Benjamin is north of Jerusalem. They must flee south and keep going past Jerusalem because it, too, will be destroyed. The towns Tekoa and Beth-hakkerem mentioned here were southwest and southeast of Jerusalem. This is a general warning to all residents to flee.
    Two reasons we need to know this are: 1) God’s Word can be in such forms as metaphor, poetry, prophecy or direct teachings. In each form, God reveals what is true. We must understand what God is saying, so we know what to believe and what to do. Second, this indicates God’s salvation promise in Eden was fulfilled step-by-step throughout history. The people, places and events of the ancient past we have read to this point in Scripture affect us into our eternal future.
 
 

Read Jeremiah 3:6-5:13
 
Jeremiah 4:10 Then I said, “O Sovereign LORD, the people have been deceived by what you said, for you promised peace for Jerusalem. But the sword is held at their throats!”
 
YOU may be wondering if Jeremiah is calling the LORD a liar. “The people have been deceived. For you promised peace!” seems to be as a disappointed, angry child accusing a parent for not fulfilling a promise or obligation. It’s as if the child says, “But you said! Mom and dad, you lied to me.” The child demands to know the truth, and the parent must be ready to assure there was no deceit.  
   But this was not a challenge to the LORD’s truth. A true messenger must have absolute faith the message is absolutely true. Jeremiah, then, was confirming the LORD would fulfill his judgment promises.   
   As a good parent truthfully answer’s the child’s challenge, God answered his prophet. He confirmed the sword is held at their throats. God says in Jeremiah 4:11 The time is coming when the LORD will say to the people of Jerusalem, “My dear people, a burning wind is blowing in from the desert, and it’s not a gentle breeze useful for winnowing grain. 12 It is a roaring blast sent by me! Now I will pronounce your destruction!” Yes, it will happen.
   Do you believe in God’s final judgment promise against all sin? Our sin nature causes a natural rejection of God’s condemnation. This is certainly a contagious disease in the church today. The Bible’s defined line of good and evil has been blurred through false teachers in schools, seminaries and churches. As a result, “Traditional Christian morality continues to lose ground in American culture. There is growing concern about the moral condition of the nation. Many American adults admit they are uncertain about how to determine right from wrong. Less than one out of three born again Christians adopt the notion of absolute moral truth.” (from the Barna Group)
   Apparently we are not believing the truth. Can people who do not believe God’s Word call themselves “born again” Christians? If so, when will they know Christ’s truth: Matthew 18:3 “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.” We must have a child’s belief to trust the Savior’s words.
   The truth is obvious and certain. Let’s pray for faith in God’s absolute truth.
 
   

​Sunday
July 25
“I Am With You.”
Read Jeremiah 1-3:5  
 
Jeremiah 1:1 & 4-8 These are the words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests from the town of Anathoth in the land of Benjamin…4 The LORD gave me this message: 5 “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” 6 “O Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I can't speak for you! I’m too young!” 7 The LORD replied, “Don’t say, ‘I’m too young,’ for you must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you. 8 And don’t be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and will protect you. I, the Lord, have spoken!”
 
JEREMIAH was a mere youth when God anointed him to speak his messages to Judah. Jeremiah’s ministry extended about 40 years prior to the exile and several years after the Jews were in Babylon.  Even though his father was a priest, Jeremiah was not a priest. And he was apparently a Benjamite, a minority in Judah. Young and unknown, Jeremiah is another example of God choosing people who seem unqualified to such exalted work. Yes, God had chosen and formed Jeremiah for this purpose. That’s all the qualifications needed to be God’s servant.
   I AM empowered Jeremiah to become a challenging, disturbing voice to Judah’s complacent heart. One commentator says: “Jeremiah was the blazing torch who, along with Ezekiel in Babylon, exposed the darkness of Judah’s sin with the piercing brightness of God’s Word. He was a weeping prophet to a wayward people.” (Bible Knowledge Commentary) This is a good legacy for a Christian – to expose the darkness of sin with the piercing brightness of God’s Word. 
   The term “weeping prophet” has become a label for Jeremiah. When we understand the LORD’s judgment on the condemned, we truly grieve for them, don’t we? Jeremiah ministered God’s Word with compassion and love for his people who were headed to destruction. Love and compassion must describe our hearts, too, as we speak sin and salvation into complacent hearts.
   This is God’s way for his will to be done. When God said, “I will be with you.” he was repeating the assurances he had given to all he had chosen for specific roles in his salvation plan. From Noah to Jeremiah, the long list of leaders have this in common: God was with them. They could not have done anything without his power and presence.
   This, too, is Jesus’ message to each of us disciples as he sets us apart – even before we were born –  to minister the good news. “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-22) We have no excuse of age, difficulty or knowledge. Jesus has sent us. And he is with us. Amen.
 
 

Read Zephaniah
 
Zephaniah 1:1 & 4-5 The LORD gave this message to Zephaniah when Josiah son of Amon was king of Judah. Zephaniah was the son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah…4 “I will crush Judah and Jerusalem with my fist and destroy every last trace of their Baal worship. I will put an end to all the idolatrous priests, so that even the memory of them will disappear. 5 For they go up to their roofs and bow down to the sun, moon, and stars. They claim to follow the LORD, but then they worship Molech, too.”
  
VERSE 1 has two good lessons. The first is “The LORD gave this message”. This introduction was common among the true prophets who were faithful messengers of heaven’s will to Israel and Judah. The source separates Zephaniah’s message from any other ideology or religion. Today each person who teaches of God must speak only as the Bible teaches. This separates true teachers from false.
   The second lesson in verse 1 is Zephaniah’s heritage. He is the great-great grandson of the righteous King Hezekiah. This indicates some in the generations kept moving the message forward. God’s Word had moved even through Manasseh’s sins to stay in the family. Now Zephaniah spoke as the LORD directed.
   The prophet’s words in verses 4-5 reveal one reason Judah’s people would be conquered and exiled: They were hypocrites.
   Do you ever want to be on both sides at once? You know how it is. When you want to be a friend of all, you accept all things. It’s better to keep the peace than to take a stand, isn’t it? But in truth, there is no peace when you keep moving from one stand to another. When “anything goes” you will certainly find yourself going places spiritually and morally you do not want to go. That’s God’s condemnation. Judah physically worshiped God, and they worshiped the idol Molech. How is it possible to worship the God of life and a supposed god who required child sacrifice?
   Jesus often passionately condemned the hypocrites of his day. Then even after his return to heaven, he spoke against the church of Laodicea for being lukewarm (Revelation 3:16). A lukewarm church is in the middle, unsure where to stand.
   God is truth, and he can never accommodate anything false. “You must not have any other god but me…You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea.” (Exodus 20:3-4) These are always the first commands. He commands you because he loves you. Jesus also said this to Laodicea in Revelation 3:19 I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference. Yes, be diligent and direct. Worship the one God who created and saved you unto himself. There is no other.